Characteristics of the Ideal Music for Surgery

Do you know about the characteristics of the ideal music for surgery? Many people believe that having the ideal music for surgery is a great idea! But how do you choose that ideal music and know in advance that it’s going to be suitable? How do you know that the music you choose will not only be pleasant and soothing, but will also decrease your anxiety at the time of surgery and reduce your pain perception and possibly even reduce the amount of anesthesia required.

Many people ask why they can’t just bring their own ipod in, and the answer is, of course you can! But, iPods are fairly germy and depending on the part of the body having surgery, that could be a problem. Also, iPods have a cord, and in the operating room, there are always lots of other cords that should not be tangled with!

So first of all, our pre-programmed, cordless headphones are a lot easier!

Secondly, how do you choose the best music? Studies have shown that the ideal music for surgery is purely instrumental, i.e., no lyrics. It also needs to be approximately the tempo of the healthy resting heartbeat. Do you know what that is? 🙂 And it needs to be unfamiliar to you, so that any previous negative associations don’t barge in, and upset your subconscious.

And finally, if you find out you need surgery soon, like in the next week or so, do you really have time to put together a one-hour playlist, and make it loop, load it onto a cordless player (and they are not easy to find!) and get permission to bring it into your hospital?? If you can, and you want to, that’s great! And amazing! If you don’t, and you can’t, why not order our patient-model headphones for LESS than $100.00 Just go to http://www.surgicalserenitysolutions.com/patient-products/. You’ll be so glad you did!!

Dr. Alice Cash is one of the world’s few clinical musicologists. Based in Louisville, Kentucky, USA, she brings to her work over 40 years of professional experience as a college professor, clinical therapist, solo and chamber music performer and composer.

Since 1990, Dr. Cash has been in the field of Music Medicine and conducted clinical research at the University of Louisville School of Medicine, under the guidance of Dr. Joel Elkes, Dr. Leah Dickstein, and Dr. Rif El-Mallakh. Her clinical work at the University of Louisville lead to her career in music medicine.

In addition to her work with the University of Louisville, Dr. Cash lead the development of using music a hospital setting at Baptist East Hospital, Louisvile, KY. She has founded 3 companies: Healing Music Enterprises, Surgical Serenity Solutions and Crescent Hill Counseling.